1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to electroporation in general, and, in particular, to an apparatus for performing magnetic electroporation.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, electroporation is a process by which a biological cell is exposed to a high-voltage electric potential to generate transitory pores in the cell membrane that reclose after the electric potential is removed. The sizes of transitory pores allow large molecules, such as nucleic acids and proteins, to enter a cell from a medium in which the cell is stored.
As a means of infusing biological cells with various types of molecules, electroporation is particularly useful in placing inside living cells deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that is foreign to the living cells, thereby enabling the living cells to express desirable proteins or to otherwise behave in a specified manner dictated by the infused DNA. Electroporation has also been used extensively in transferring drugs to the interior of a living cell. In addition, electroporation can be used to kill bacteria and yeast, such as in the fermentation process of grapes to make wine.
An electroporation apparatus typically includes a cuvette to hold a cell suspension and a shocking chamber in which the cuvette is inserted. The amount of voltage used in electroporation depends on the cell type and the species being infused. Smaller cells, for example, tend to require higher field strengths, as do larger molecules. Thus, voltages used in electroporation can range from as low as 200 V/cm to as high as 35,000 V/cm. With voltages of such high magnitude, user safety becomes a huge concern.
The present disclosure provides an improved apparatus for performing electroporation.